A university tries to kick an 89-year-old man out of his home, a new wave of young buyers arrives in the housing market, and long-overdue closure at the site of the 9/11 attacks. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of July 6-10.
Miss: Elder Abuse, Arizona-Style. Shame on Arizona State University for trying to use eminent domain to seize the residence of Robert Young, an 89-year-old Phoenix homeowner who lived in his property at the corner of North 4th and Pierce Street since 1975. The school wants Young’s land for the expansion of its medical and technology school, but he has repeatedly declined offers to sell. The residence was built in 1902 and predates Arizona’s statehood in 1912; it is among Phoenix’s oldest surviving residences. The Arizona Board of Regents is forcing Young to go into Maricopa County Superior Court to defend his right to live in his longtime home. The university’s actions are disgraceful – obviously, they don’t teach the basic lessons of right and wrong at that school.
Hit: The Next Wave is Here. It appears that the fears that younger Americans are foregoing homeownership were unfounded. Gen Z accounted for one in five purchase mortgage rate locks in the second quarter, the largest share on record, according to a new data report from Intercontinental Exchange Inc. The report found this youthful generation represents nearly one-third of all first-time homebuyer loans and 27% of FHA purchase lending. “Gen Z’s rise to nearly 20% of rate locks is one of the clearest signs yet of a generational handoff in the homebuying market,” said Andy Walden, head of mortgage and housing market research at ICE. “Despite facing one of the tougher affordability environments in decades, younger buyers are finding ways to become homeowners.”
Hit: A New School. The Poultney, Vermont campus of Green Mountain College, which shuttered in 2019, is finally seeing a return to academic activity. The Wall Street Journal reports Raj Bhakta, a whisky entrepreneur who acquired the property but repeatedly failed to make good on his grand plans for a mixed-use condo/retail/spa development, has sold the campus to Tommie Zito, a Florida evangelist who plans to create a “Christ-centered institution dedicated to educating, equipping, and sending leaders throughout America and the nations of the world.” Zito admitted, “I don’t know that much about building a university,” but he added that he plans to surround himself with advisors that will enable him to bring back higher education to that too-long-dormant setting.
Hit: Keep It Clean. Kudos to Florida Realtors for the upcoming 2026 iteration of their annual “Clean Up Florida Waters” endeavor that picks up trash and cleans the Sunshine State’s lakes, rivers, streams, retention ponds, bays, and Intracoastal Waterway, along with the beaches along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Last year’s event included nearly 2,050 participants, and 2026 Florida Realtors President Chuck Bonfiglio Jr., a broker-owner of AAA Realty Group in Plantation, recalled how this brigade “logged 717 hours removing debris from 239 miles of waterways. In all, volunteers removed almost 16 tons of trash – about the weight of six full-size school buses.” Thank you, Florida Realtors, for ensuring careless litter and pollution doesn’t spoil your wonderful state.
Hit: A Long Time Coming. Twenty-five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center, a long overdue new building will start to take shape on the site of New York City’s greatest catastrophe. On Thursday, American Express broke ground for its new headquarters, a 55-story, 2 million-square-foot glass and steel tower at 2 World Trade Center. This is the final commercial development to be erected at the site of the iconic twin towers, and the new 1,226-foot skyscraper is set to open in 2031. As a personal note, I was working in New York City and witnessed the 9/11 horrors, and I am thankful this new endeavor will provide the final fold of closure that the city needs to move ahead to a better tomorrow.
Hit: TV Worth Watching. If you’re looking for some interesting distraction on Sunday evenings, HGTV announced the next installment in “The Maine Cabin Masters” franchise will be on the air starting July 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. The new six-episode “Maine Cabin Masters: All In” features Chase Morrill (seen in the above photo) and his wife Sherill transforming a rundown Maine bed and breakfast into a stunning 12-acre lakeside inn. In addition to renovating existing spaces, the Morrills and their team must build three new cabins from the ground up, all while racing to complete the project in less than a year. Do you think they can accomplish their goal? Hey, when did HGTV every broadcast a show about contractors leaving unfinished work on the last episode? This new show promises to be a lot of fun.
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
0 Comments